couple questions

brndfrb

New member
My clowns spawned about 7 days ago. I have rotifers and everything i need. Las tnight the eggs started to hatch. First of all is it normal for not all of them to hatch at once?

My main question is what is the best way to transfer the rotifers from the rotifer tank to the larva tank???
 
Welcome!

You need a paper coffee filter or rotifer filter, 53 microns. Paper is harder to get them off of, but it will work. Order a rot filter from florida aqua farms or aquaticeco systems. Filter the the amount of rotifers you want to feed out of their water, rinse into a container with clean water and add some phytoplankton to enrich them for about 30 mins, then filter again and rinse into the larval tank. Do not put rotifer culture water into your larval tank, or the ammonia, low pH, etc. will kill all the larvae.
 
Yes it is normal for a nest not to all hatch at once. It is really a pair by pair, and nest by nest thing.
 
Ok first let me say that i am new to this whole breeding thing. Actually i never thought i would do it untill a week ago when i noticed the clutch of eggs in the tank. So i was forced to take a crash course in clownfish breeding in a week.

So how do i know how many rotifers to feed. That is what i really don't understand. I purchased th book clownfishes and read the whole thing. Still a little unsure on how many to feed.

Also when i rinse them like you said. Am i using fresh water or saltwater? Sorry for all the questions. I just want to try my hardest to let at least one of these little guys live.

Also do i need to start feeding them today. About 20 of them hatched last night. We will see about all the rest of them tonight. I know i want to feed rotifers for about 4-5 days. Then i read that i am supposed to switch to live baby brine shrimp. which i am hatching as we speek. Am i correct on this so far?

Now do i feed the rotifers with the brine? And how long do i feed the brine for? Last thing what do i feed after the live brine? I mean what do i switch to after that? And how long before the clowns are ready to either go into my main tank with others or to other peoples tanks?

Again sorry for all the questions. I would have done lots of research on this if i would have actually planned on breeding clowns.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7124290#post7124290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brndfrb
....So how do i know how many rotifers to feed. That is what i really don't understand. I purchased th book clownfishes and read the whole thing. Still a little unsure on how many to feed.

Also when i rinse them like you said. Am i using fresh water or saltwater? Sorry for all the questions. I just want to try my hardest to let at least one of these little guys live.

Also do i need to start feeding them today. About 20 of them hatched last night. We will see about all the rest of them tonight. I know i want to feed rotifers for about 4-5 days. Then i read that i am supposed to switch to live baby brine shrimp. which i am hatching as we speek. Am i correct on this so far?

Now do i feed the rotifers with the brine? And how long do i feed the brine for? Last thing what do i feed after the live brine? I mean what do i switch to after that? And how long before the clowns are ready to either go into my main tank with others or to other peoples tanks?

Again sorry for all the questions. I would have done lots of research on this if i would have actually planned on breeding clowns.

I don't rinse my rotifers at all. I also don't enrich them with phytoplankton because in my case, that is what they are being grown in. When you are feeding rotifers, you feed the tank and not the fish. There should be enough rotifers in the tank so that the fry don't have to swimm more than a body lenght to eat one.

Start feeding the babies now. They can go a couple days on their yolk sac without food, but they need to start practicing to catch the rotifers. After 4 days start feeding both baby brine shrimp and rotifers for about 5 days more, then just brine shrimp. BTW, you need to hatch the brine shrimp on the day you use them. After a couple days growth they will be too big for the baby clowns to eat.

Your can feed baby brine shrimp forever, but after ~ 10 days I usually start introducing crushed flake food and wean then onto that. You can also use cyclop-eeze and other fry foods.

You can expect them to be ready for sale between 6 months and a year depending on how fast they grow.
 
i understand that. How do i know when i have enough rotifers int he tank. That is what i am asking. I mean everyone tells me if i don't have a rotifer sieve then to use a coffe filter. So what dump water from the rotifer tank into a coffe filter. That will collect the rotifers. But how do i know when there is enough in the larva tank?
 
I use a microscope to count rots in a standard volume.

I can also see them with my bifocals.

In Wilkerson's book she has a method to estimate rotifer populations using a hydrometer. Try that.
K
 
You can use the hydrometer or any clear container like a 1liter soda bottle bottom, just try to count how many you see in a ml. =1cc. I just look at them havent use the micro in months. You can also get a photographer loupe to help you see them better.

You must rinse them, I have hot,cold and salt water in my sink , I flush them for a few seconds avoiding exposure to air. You can just pour 1/2 a cup of slatwater over them.

Wonder where Wilkerson got that hydrometer tip from...

Ed
 
Back
Top